An infection that, although not necessarily causing symptoms, may still be active and may spread to others. Chronic infection may last for years. Examples of diseases that can cause chronic infection are hepatitis B and typhoid. People with chronic infections used to be referred to as 'carriers'.
Some repeat infections, like pneumonia and bladder infections, may happen because of a genetic predisposition. That's an inherited tendency to get more infections than most people do. Structural issues. Repeat infections can also happen as a result of how your body is put together.
An acute disease is a short-lived disease, like the common cold. A chronic disease is one that lasts for a long time, usually at least six months. During that time, it may be constantly present, or it may go into remission and periodically relapse.
Left unaddressed, chronic inflammation can damage healthy cells, tissues and organs, and may cause internal scarring, tissue death and damage to the DNA in previously healthy cells.
A chronic infection is one that can eventually be eradicated. However, latent and slow infections are usually lifelong ailments that will need to be carefully managed through the use of an appropriate treatment plan, prescribed by Dr. Ranjan, rather than cured outright.
If you don't stop that infection, it can cause sepsis. Bacterial infections cause most cases of sepsis. Sepsis can also be a result of other infections, including viral infections, such as COVID-19 or influenza, or fungal infections.
One well-known example of a chronic infection in humans is HIV, in which the infection cannot be cleared by the immune system and the virus continues to replicate. AIDS results when the immune system is finally overwhelmed by the virus.
Chronic viral infection underlies a wide variety of medically important diseases that either follow directly from primary infection or may require months, years or even decades to develop.
Infection Treatment Medicine
Bacterial infections are treated with antibiotics such as amoxicillin, erythromycin and ciprofloxacin. There are many different types of antibiotic, with different ways of working; the choice depends on the type of infection you have.
And you may not even know you have it. Most of us think of inflammation as the redness and swelling that follow a wound, infection or injury, such as an ankle sprain, or from overdoing a sport, “tennis elbow,” for example.
Acute illnesses generally develop suddenly and last a short time, often only a few days or weeks. Chronic conditions develop slowly and may worsen over an extended period of time—months to years.
Chronic inflammation can result from the following: Failure of eliminating the agent causing an acute inflammation such as infectious organisms including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, protozoa, fungi, and other parasites that can resist host defenses and remain in the tissue for an extended period.
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is the most common chronic viral infection worldwide; approximately one-third of the world's population have evidence of prior exposure; and over 250 million people have chronic hepatitis B (CHB).
Blood Test
Doctors may use blood tests to determine if you have an infection, and, if so, what type of bacterium or fungus is causing it. Information from this test helps the doctor select the most effective antibiotic.
Increased numbers of lymphocytes occur with certain acute and chronic infections (Table 4).
Persistent bacterial infections such as Brucellosis and Typhoid Fever are characterized by a long incubation period to leads to chronic, sometimes lifelong, debilitating disease with serious clinical manifestations (1).
The two primary categories of persistent infections are latent infection and chronic infection. Examples of viruses that cause latent infections include herpes simplex virus (oral and genital herpes), varicella-zoster virus (chickenpox and shingles), and Epstein-Barr virus (mononucleosis).
Recurrent infections are infections that are too great in number, too severe, or too long lasting. Recurrent infections are defined as two or more severe infections in one year, three or more respiratory infections (eg, sinusitis, otitis, bronchitis) in one year, or the need for antibiotics for two months/year.
Some diseases, like HIV and hepatitis B, can't be cured, but medications can help prevent serious complications. Sexually transmitted infections can cause infertility or even lead to cancer, so it's important to take steps to protect yourself and others. Prion diseases are very serious and can't be cured.
Symptoms in case of acute Bacterial Infections may get resolved spontaneously in a duration of approx. two weeks, without undergoing treatment. However, in chronic cases when the symptoms persist for a longer duration, such as for 10 or more days, there is a need for the consultation with a doctor.
Eventually, the CD4+ T cell population becomes so depleted that the individual starts to experience other, opportunistic, infections. This marks the beginning of the final phase, commonly known as acquired immune deficiency syndrome or AIDS, which eventually results in death.
Chronic diseases are defined broadly as conditions that last 1 year or more and require ongoing medical attention or limit activities of daily living or both. Chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes are the leading causes of death and disability in the United States.